The Sound of Hurricane Katrina & Disaster Capitalism in B minor
Natural Disasters are Orchestrated Symphonies Composed by the Rich to Profit Off of the Poor
At first glance, we might percieve natural disasters as Mother Nature’s ‘accidents’: an island that just happened to be in the way of a tsunami; a hurricane that coincidentally flooded the poorest parts of town. I, myself, used to believe that too. However, after reading Naomi Klein’s book, Shock Doctrine, and diving into some deep research on how the rich profit off of natural disasters, I came to believe otherwise. To the rich politicians, economists, and corporations, natural disasters are like musical notes, small parts that contribute to the whole symphony, that is their booming market.
In her book, Klein introduces her theory of “disaster capitalism,” or in other words, when capitalists take advantage of natural disasters and profit off of them. Why do the rich never fall victim to these disasters? It should be no surprise that these natural disasters continuously strike the poorest neighborhoods. When the levees that were intended to prevent flooding at New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina flooded the entire city, only the poor neighborhoods which made up around 30% of the population were devastatingly destroyed. Wealthy politicians, economists, and corporations immediately swarmed the area, calling it a “clean slate” and “opportunity” to rebuild the city into something that was never before. Their goal was to wipe out the old pre-hurricane city and capitalize it instead. New market. New capital. New residents.
“…it was clear that this was now the preferred method of advancing corporate goals: using moments of collective trauma to engage in radical social and economic en gineering.” — Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine
However, while we are on the outside looking in, admiring the sudden changes and so-called improvements, we fail to see how thousands of hurricane victims’ lives are being turned upside down. The new city introduced by the politicians, economists, and corporations is too expensive for the original residents to live in. They are hence forced to move out of their loving homes and into more dangerous neighborhoods, if not the cruel, barren streets. Hurricane victims do not want to erase their homes; they want to recover and reclaim their homes. Rachel Riederer, writer of “How the Rich Profit from Natural Disasters,” gives us a brief summary of the aftermath of the hurricane:
“The city has 100,000 fewer African American residents; the average annual incomes of African American households in New Orleans are 54% lower than those of their white neighbors; more than a third of renters in the increasingly expensive city pay more than half their monthly income in rent.”
Looking back at the time of the hurricane itself, Katrina was no ‘natural disaster.’ According to History.com, “During the past century, hurricanes have flooded New Orleans six times: in 1915, 1940, 1947, 1965, 1969 and 2005”. If that is the case, then why is it that 2005’s Hurricane Katrina was the most destructive of all? The answer: the destruction was actually orchestrated by the wealthy politicians. The levees broke because the architects and politicians were not concerned about the safety of the poor, lower-income class residents that lived within its vicinity. Had the richer neighborhoods lived next to the levees, then its faults would have been repaired immediately and the flooding would have never occurred to this extremity.
In an attempt to increase their capital and trigger a boom in their economic success, wealthy politicians, economists, and corporations take advantage of the disaster-stricken neighborhoods. We, as outsiders, tend to skim over the true, harsh reality of the situation. It is time we face the facts: For the wealthy, natural disasters are a melodic green shower in the faces of Benjamin Franklin; but for the majority, a merciless upperhand that ignorantly uproots the voiceless hurricane victims from their home.
